This archive report was first published on 8 July 2020.
Published on July 8, 2020, the US government's reversal of its earlier guidance on international students has sparked a lawsuit from Harvard and M.I.T.
According to the lawsuit, the government recognized the pandemic's unique crisis on March 13, when it suspended a rule requiring students on F-1 visas to attend most classes in person.
However, in reversing this earlier guidance on Monday, the universities claim that the government has put the ability of international students to continue studying and working in the US in jeopardy.
International students, who pay full tuition, are a major source of revenue for American universities, and losing them would be a huge blow to the finances of many public and private schools.
“The effect — and perhaps even the goal — is to create as much chaos for universities and international students as possible,” the universities said in the lawsuit.
Defending the agency's order, Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, the acting deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said that the agency was providing more flexibility for international students than in the past.
“If they’re not going to be a student or they’re going to be 100 percent online, then they don’t have a basis to be here,” Mr. Cuccinelli said, adding, “They should go home, and then they can return when the school opens.”
